Batum Out. This season sucks already.

Get ready for a whole bunch more Travis Outlaw jump shots. As you know by know, Nicolas Batum will be out for a while due to an uncooperative shoulder.

Batum was rapidly becoming my favorite non-Roy Blazer. He was coming off a run with the French National Team that had taken his confidence to a new level. Batum's rapid development was going to be one of the most interesting things to watch this season.

Don't act like this doesn't suck. Outlaw and Webster are substitutes? Please. If they were that capable Portland wouldn't have bothered getting Batum in the first place.

Petteri Koponen Watch: Nicolas Batum Edition

What happens when two of DeceptivelyQuick's favorite players in the Blazers Universe collide? H.T. checks in with an update of Petteri Koponen (and team Finland) versus Nicolas Batum (and team France). Boxscore Hotness here.

Batum leads "Les Bleus" over Koponen and Finland

Determined French national team won their second consecutive game in the additional qualifications for European Championship Games 2009 in Poland. This time they didn't need an overtime to do so like in their first game against Italy; they managed to beat Finland rather easily in front of loud and rowdy group of 7,500 spectators in Pau, France.

The name of the game was French interior dominance. While Finland did very well against French guards, just the strength and athleticism of French forwards and centers was way too much for Finns. France powered their way to the low post with superb pass and slash offense and finished with a 2pt field goal percentage of 67,5 % (27/40). Nicolas Batum (14/1), Florent Pietrus (12/6/3 assist), Ronny Turiaf (9/6/3 steals) and Johan Petro (8/4) did pretty much what they wanted against thin Finnish front line.

Finland didn't give up despite trailing throughout the game. Finns sank their 3pt shots with very good percentage (52,2 %) lead by 22-year old, 6-8" small forward Samuel Haanpää (21/0), who drained all six of his field goals, including five long range bombs. Point guards Petteri Koponen (16/5) and Teemu Rannikko (14/2/5 assists) also relied heavy on their outside shots. Finns basically had no weapons inside the paint; they finished with only two fast break points and ten 2pt field goals in the game. Another weak point for the Finns was their turnovers caused by lack of mobility: French help defense did excellent job in covering the passing lanes and forcing Finnish big men to stop dribbling in the middle of two- or three-man defense.

Here's a quick look at how the game did proceed. As you can see, it was pretty much a "catch me if you can" type of game, with French team extending the lead with fast breaks and Finland catching up with outside shots: 8-5, 21-9, 30-28, 48-35, 52-45, 63-47, 69-60, 75-60, 77-70, 82-72.

Tony Parker, recovering from a minor ankle injury, played only four minutes in the game, finishing with 3 points, one rebound and one assist. Boris Diaw was in foul trouble from the beginning and despite draining all four of his field goal attempts, his 10-point, 4-assist performance in 26 minutes was rather disappointing. Leaders of the young French team were forwards Batum and Pietrus, who caused problems for Finns all over the court, and 20-year old point guard Antoine Diot (16/3/4 assists).

And how did Koponen do? Good and bad. Everybody could clearly see he has turned out to be a very Americanized point guard. He managed to beat his man off the dribble every single time and cause some minor trouble for French interior defense momentarily, but because Finnish big men weren't really a threat, French big men Turiaf, Petro and Diaw could let their men almost open and roughen up with some very physical defense. Defensively, he did good job covering Parker and Spurs draftee Nando de Colo (8/1/5 assists/3 steals).

Finland has a couple of days off before hosting Italy in Vantaa this Tuesday. The game is a must win for both teams, so it will be interesting. French team travels to Italy next Friday and it's pretty safe to say that if they manage to win, they clinch their spot in last qualification round.


France - Finland 82-72 (28-21, 46-35, 63-47)

France: Antoine Diot 16/3/4 assists, Nicolas Batum 14/1, Florent Pietrus 12/6/3 assists, Boris Diaw 10/0/4 assists, Ronny Turiaf 9/6/3 steals, Johan Petro 8/4, Nando de Colo 8/1/5 assists/3 steals, Tony Parker 3/1, Alain Koffi 2/0, Aymeric Jeanneau 0/1, Yannick Bokolo, Ali Traore.

Finland: Samuel Haanpää 21/0, Petteri Koponen 16/5, Teemu Rannikko 14/2/5 assists, Hanno Möttölä 7/4, Tuukka Kotti 5/5, Gerald Lee 4/3, Mikko Koivisto 3/0, Antti Nikkilä 2/2, Kimmo Muurinen 0/3, Shawn Huff 0/1, Petri Virtanen 0/0, Vesa Mäkäläinen.

Petteri Koponen: 34 minutes, 2pt field goals 1/5, 3pt field goals 3/7, free throws 5/6, points 16, rebounds 5, assists 1, steals 1, blocks 1, turnovers 2, personal fouls 1.

-H.mr.T.

In unrelated news, I really, really have been wanting to use the below video for a while. It does not make sense in this post. Don't worry about it. Still awesome.

Rudy All-Rookie Second Team, Batum..well. Yeah.

The news just keeps coming today. Rudy Fernandez has been named to the All-Rookie Second Team. Fernandez tied with the Bobcat’s Augustine for the lowest vote total to earn honors, but in a field crowded with talented rookies this achievement is something for Rudy and Rip City to be proud of.

And just in case you forgot that achievements aren’t as impressive when they happen in the Northwest: There was a certain rookie that started for a team that won over fifty games that failed to get even a single vote. I’m too lazy to look it up, but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t happen too often.

Weakend Review: Don't you feel better? I feel better.

After the heavy dose of depression that was the Blazers vs. Lakers on opening night, I entered the weekend searching for some salvation. Luckily the games against San Antonio and Phoenix brought a little of the warm fuzziness back. Here's some tidbits...

Portland 100, San Antonio 99 (box score):

-This team will be tough at home all season, a rabid Rip City crowd seems to help the young'ins attack with confidence. The Spurs found that out the hard way as the Blazers held on for the narrowest of victories.

-Nicolas Batum played an absolutely stellar first half. Blazers management raised some eyebrows when they decided to keep Batum on the roster after his lame summer league performance. His play proves once again that Kevin Pritchard knows more than we do.

-The Spurs put some brutal shackles on Roy last season. It was hard to watch. This game, Roy was awesome against San Antonio's defense. His success was probably due to a combination of his continued growth and a Spurs team that is a year older. I prefer more of the former.

Phoenix 107, Portland 96 (box score):

-Portland lead at the half and played competitively throughout at Phoenix. This is encouraging considering that reports of the Suns death have been greatly exaggerated.
-Rudy Fernandez was great in this game. Teams aren't really considering him in defensive schemes yet, but they will have to if he continues to play like this. It really is not fair that the Blazers continue to get awesome young talent. Sorry NBA.

Brian Wheeler: Koponen's Dream Will Soon Be Crushed

That beautiful man in the purple is none other than Brian Wheeler, radio voice and employee of the Blazers. In addition to play-by-play broadcasts of Blazer games, he happens to also have a radio show. His being employed by the team comes with the drawback of him basically being a mouthpiece for the organization. This is not all bad, if you sift through the wafts of PR rhetoric you can generally count on his information to be accurate.

I bring all that up because last night on his radio show he divulged that our man The Finnagler (aka Petteri Koponen) will probably not join the Blazers next season. If that happens Koponen will likely sign a deal with a Euro team for at least three seasons, maybe more. This decision could very well be the end of the relationship between Koponen and the Blazers.

Wheels went on to say that he believes Batum will get a roster spot. The team would still have one slot open, but would rather keep that option than fill it with Koponen. There is a lot to chew on here, including the logic of keeping Batum who is a small forward project that would be behind current SF projects Webster and Outlaw. DeceptivelyQuick will remain in a holding pattern until the official word is released.

UPDATE: The audio from Brian Wheeler speaking on the subject is available here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: From our cousin Jason Quick: Batum has officially been signed. This means one remaining roster spot, and Pritchard loves to keep a roster spot open for trade flexibility and possible free agent pickups. Not looking good for Koponen.

More draft-related fun activities to waste time with

If the 2008 NBA Draft confirmed anything to me, it would be that the whole thing would be a lot more boring for everybody if Kevin Pritchard wasn't involved. Here is my 3rd grade reading level obligatory recap:

Players the Blazers ended up with: Jarryd Bayless, Ike Diogu, and Nicolas Batum.

I have been in like with all these players. Don't sleep on Diogu, he is a good banger style scorer in the post. The fact that he's undersized won't be that big of a deal considering Portland has enough trees to protect the rim. Batum will be stashed in Europe for a while.

There is a lot to love about Bayless at the point. Local media seem to be knocking him a little, but I haven't heard or read any legitimate claims to back up the criticisms. Basically, the argument seems to be that he is not a sure thing star that we know will definitely fit in. Duh. Being contrarian is fine, do what you gotta do to pay the bills, but I would appreciate it if you were not so lazy about it. Please, come with a more solid case. Need I remind you there are, conservatively some would say, three legitimate stars already on this roster? Bayless need not be Derrick Rose my friends.

Blazers sent off: Jarrett Jack and Josh McRoberts were sent off to Indiana. Both can be good NBA Players, I would hardly be surprised to see them both have reasonably long careers. Both could also probably use the fresh start. Best of luck.

I would give a rundown of all Blazers transactions and who they actually you know, drafted, but there is no point. KP traded every player the team drafted, so I'll save us both a few seconds and skip all that.

Also, I know everyone is linking to this, but I could get my sports bloggers license revoked if I didn't post this years' entry from the Stephen A. Smith Heckling Society of Gentlemen. It did make me like Kevin Love a little more. Sort of somber this year, but still well worth watching: